Don't Be A Monster
by LA Made Me
Summary: The two boys and the gun are instantly forgotten; at this point, they could kill each other and neither of the girls would realize. Unholy Trinity Week, Day 5


**A/N: I'm still wondering why this hasn't happened on Glee yet, since it seems to be a recurrent thing in high school shows... Written for Day 5 of the Unholy Trinity Week. Trigger Warning: Character Death. Just a few things you need to know about this chapter: 1) Karofsky never left the school; 2) It happens a while after Santana's outing; and 3) It's sad. Like, really. You've been warned.**

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**Don't Be A Monster**

It's all over the school on Tuesday morning. It's whispered in the hallways, written as the headline of Jacob Ben Israel's blog, stuck on posters on the walls and in everybody's mind:

Dave Karofsky is gay.

Nobody had seen it coming, really. Although it kind of makes sense.

But the day before, Finn Hudson and Karofsky got into a fight, and as a he grew more and more frustrated, Finn just dropped the bomb in the middle of a crowded hallway.

"Oh really? And when were you planning to come out, douche bag?"

You'd think the guy would have learnt the lesson, after Santana slapped him in the auditorium, but apparently he's too stupid to realize outing people is wrong.

So when Karofsky shows up on Tuesday and starts walking in the hallways, fearfully looking around as people part on his way, not in fear but in disgust, he feels his stomach turn upside down. So it's really happening... The hockey players throw him against a locker and no one helps him up. The whispers continue, and suddenly it's too much for him to take. He runs out of school.

A few days pass by and Karofsky isn't there. People start saying he might have changed schools, when on Friday afternoon, the peacefulness of the empty hallways is broken by screaming coming out of a classroom. Everybody goes out to try to see what happen, and the rumors travel faster than the real threat.

Karofsky is back.

And he has a gun.

The wave of panic that takes over the school is too important to have a positive outcome. People run haphazardly, not knowing where to go, running into each other as they look for some exits.

Santana and Quinn are in History class on the other side of the building when they hear the news. Quinn reacts first and grabs Santana's hand, pulling her on her feet and out of the classroom, looking for a safe way to exit the building through the panicked high school crowd.

"Quinn wait!"

Quinn doesn't want to listen to Santana's pleading voice, focused on her goal to get them both safe, but Santana pulls to a stop and refuses to move, forcing her to look back to see what's wrong with her friend.

"Brittany…" Santana's eyes are pleading, but she doesn't need to say more. At that time of the day, Brittany is on the other side of school, in Advanced Geometry; if the rumors are true, that's where the panic wave started. There's no way they're leaving without her, and Quinn knows it.

She gives a small nod, and that's enough for Santana to start pulling her down the hallway, in the opposite direction to the one they were initially taking.

The other students are pushing past them to get to the front doors, but Santana's will is stronger than them and she just shoves them apart if they come in her way. People are still shouting and panicking, and in the mess and noise they hear someone say Karofsky is after Finn Hudson. They keep walking.

Finally the crowd gets lighter, and when they get to the geometry class they're alone in the hallways.

"Britt! Britt, are you here?" Santana calls.

Quinn squeezes her hand, shushing her.

"What if he hears you?"

"He wouldn't do anything to us." Her voice is strong but her eyes are scared, and Quinn realizes she only half believes what she's saying. She starts calling again.

"Brittany!"

"San! San, I'm here!"

A tall body comes crashing into the petite brunette, enveloping her in her arms as the other girl grabs her face, pushing their foreheads together as tears of relief fall on her face.

"Oh Gosh, you're fine. You're fine."

"Brittany, why didn't you leave the school?" Quinn asks, putting her hand on her friend's back.

"I figured out San would look for me, and I didn't want her to get scared when she wouldn't find me so I hid behind the curtains in the classroom and waited…"

"We should go now." Santana says, grabbing the two blondes' hands and pulling them behind her towards the exit.

They haven't made 5 steps that Karofsky appears at the end of the hallway, gun in hand, a mad look on his face as he walks in a determined pace.

The three girls freeze.

"Oh God no…" Quinn whispers.

Brittany starts crying.

Before the two other girls can react, Santana drops their hands and takes a step forward.

"Karofsky!" she calls out. Her voice wavers a little at the end, but she stands strong in front of him, like a good head Cheerleader.

"Lopez, have you seen fucking Hudson?"

"I haven't. Karofsky, what are you doing?"

A look of confusion passes on his face at being called out by such a small girl, especially considering the gun in his hand right now. But it's Santana Lopez; maybe he shouldn't be surprised after all.

"None of your business, Santana."

"Stop for a second and think about it. Don't you think you're doing a huge mistake right now?"

Quinn can't believe Santana is calling him out, especially considering the madness burning in Karofsky's eyes. But apparently the boy only wants after Finn, and it feels like Santana knows it. And for some unknown reason, he seems to actually listen to her.

Karofsky throws his hand in the air in frustration, and Brittany's hand flies to her mouth to prevent her quiet sobs from being heard.

"You know what it's like! He's outed you to the entire fucking state of Ohio, how can you be so calm? How can you not want to just kill him?"

"Sometimes I do." Santana's voice is calm, like she's trying to bring him back from his mad thoughts, back to her, back to them. She doesn't sound like the bitchy Cheerleader she always is in front of everybody. "Sometimes I really hate him for doing it, but there's nothing I can do about it… You'll be fine, Karofsky, I promise you. Hudson is a fucking idiot, but even he doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve for you to destroy your life because of him, and you know I'm right."

And that's when Quinn realizes why Karofsky is listening to Santana. She's been through the exact same thing; she knows what it's like. She probably even knew all the way about him, and maybe he's thankful that she wasn't the one who outed him. Maybe that's the reason why his hands start shaking, the fire in his eyes starting to disappear.

"I'm too far gone now anyway..."

"No you're not."

Karofsky takes in the three girls in front of him, the way Quinn's hand holds on Santana's arm as if she were ready to pull her back at any moment, the way Santana's arms are reached out in front of her friends and how her body is strategically placed in front of Brittany's, as if to protect her. His eyes fall on Brittany, and his face contorts in pain when he sees the tears rolling down her cheeks. He raises his hand to reach out for her, but stops halfway when the three girls take a step back.

"I'm sorry." He lowers his head. "I didn't… I don't want to be a monster."

"Then don't be." Santana whispers. "You're worth ten times more than him, Dave, we both know that."

Karofsky seems to be considering her words, his head still lowered as he looks at the gun with disgust written on his face.

For a second, Quinn almost thinks they'll be fine and everything will go back to normal. Brittany feels it too, as she stands taller and moves a little to stand next to Santana, grabbing her hand.

But then Quinn sees a tall boy appearing in the corner of her eyes, running to get to them, and her heart stops.

"HEY STEP AWAY FROM THEM! You fucking _monster_!"

"Hudson, go away! GO AWAY!" Santana grits between her teeth, afraid Finn's presence might upset Karofsky even more; but the boy doesn't listen and throws himself at Karofsky.

They both fall on the floor, wrestling and grunting, fighting for the gun; after that, everything goes too fast for any of them to register anything.

There's a gunshot, a scream, and everything becomes silent.

Quinn, still standing behind Santana and Brittany who haven't moved, takes a look at the two horrified boys on the floor, the abandoned gun between them, and feels relief wash over her.

"We're fine. Everybody's fine." She starts ranting, her hand flying to her chest where her heart beats too fast. "We're f…" she's stopped mid-sentence when Brittany wobbles on her feet, and falls limply into Santana's open arms.

The two boys and the gun are instantly forgotten. At this point, they could kill each other and neither Quinn nor Santana would realize.

Quinn's eyes widen in shock as she rushes to the two girls side, helping Santana lay Brittany on the floor, her head resting on Santana's lap. Her heart sinks when she sees the blood stain appearing on Brittany's Cheerio uniform, the stain spreading quickly, too quickly really. Quinn is in a half-state of consciousness, and for some reason her body takes over control, remembering first aid classes and doing moves she didn't even know she learnt someday. Her hands tear the Cheerio uniform fabric apart, revealing Brittany's pink bra, her stomach and the open wound with blood flooding quickly. She winces; it looks really bad. She reaches for her own jacket and presses it softly against the wound, not knowing how else to stop the bleeding.

She hears a whimper and looks up, only then realizing that Brittany is still conscious, her blue eyes widened in pain and looking for Santana's, terrified.

Quinn also realizes Santana is crying, one hand clutching Brittany's, the other stroking her cheek and her hair while she messily whispers the same sentence over and over again.

_I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…_

The boys have apparently stopped fighting, because Finn is towering over them, fidgeting with his hands.

"Is she ok?"

"Back off." Quinn snarls. "Go find some help. NOW!"

Finn doesn't reply and runs off, as fast as possible. Quinn has never felt so thankful for his quarterback position on the football team.

She quickly takes a look back, just to make sure Karofsky is no longer a threat, and sees him curled up in a ball a few steps from them, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't… Oh God, I never wanted it to happen. I don't ev…"

Quinn reports her attention to the two girls in front of her, quickly looking at her hand pressed on Brittany's stomach. The blood is still pouring, soaking her jacket even though she's still applying pressure to stop the bleeding. It's not enough. She's not a doctor. They need a doctor, for God's sake!

She looks up at her two best friends, and almost feels like an intruder when she sees the way they stare into each other's eyes.

"Am I going to die, San?" Brittany's voice is frightened, and so, so small it breaks Quinn's heart. Brittany can't die. It's not a possibility. She can't let it happen. But what can she do now?

"No. No you're not going to die. You hear me? You can't die. I love you, Brittany. I love you so much, you can't leave me here." Santana is ranting, and Quinn has never seen her being so open with her feelings. It scares her even more, because it means that Santana knows there's nothing they can really do right now. "We're going to grow up and leave this crazy town, you, Tubbs and I. We're gonna move to New-York and go to college together, and live into our own apartment together. We're gonna get married. We'll have tons of kids, and we'll grow old together. You'll be an awesome dancer, and I'll be a lawyer or a business woman or anything, I don't even care as long as I'm with you. You're stuck with me, ok? Forever."

"Forever?" Brittany asks.

"Yes."

Brittany smiles at the words, before the pain gets her again and she has to close her eyes.

"It hurts so much, San…"

"I know baby, I know." Santana presses light kisses all over Brittany's face, before shooting a quick glance at Quinn.

_Will she make it_? Her eyes plead.

Quinn hates herself for shaking her head. She doesn't know. She glances at the double doors again, praying for someone, anyone, to get in and help them, but nobody's here yet. She doesn't know if Brittany can hold on much longer.

Brittany, whose eyes are flickering before closing, making Santana panic.

"Britt? Britt stay awake! You can't sleep, you hear me?"

"But I'm so tired…"

"No! Don't close your eyes. Don't."

"Why?"

"Because in movies people die when they close their eyes. So you can't do that, you hear me? You can't leave me."

"I would never leave you San…" Brittany's voice is only a whisper, and Santana's sobs double.

"I love you, I love you so much. Please don't leave me, _please_… Please…"

Santana pleads. Quinn clutches her blood-soaked jacket. Brittany fights to stay awake.

They stay like this for what feels like forever – but it's probably only been a few seconds – before Brittany tugs on Santana's hand.

"Kiss me."

"I don't…"

"Kiss me, San."

Brittany's eyes are shadowed with pain, but her determination is still visible in them. Quinn wants to cry, but her chest is constricted in emotional pain; it feels like her tears are blocked in her throat. She can't do anything but look at them as Santana lowers her head and kisses Brittany softly on the lips, letting Brittany deepen the kiss as tears fall down her cheeks.

They finally break apart, and Brittany's voice is barely audible when she talks again.

"I love you so much, San. I'm not leaving you."

She closes her eyes and her breathing slows down, stopping completely after an indeterminate amount of time.

Santana's scream of pain can be heard in all McKinley.

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Later that day, they'll learn that nobody wanted to get inside because they were scared Karofsky was still dangerous, and everybody was waiting for the police before making it back into the building. Nobody tried to get inside before their arrival, even after Finn ran outside and pleaded for the teachers to bring some help.

Nobody knows who pulled the trigger. Finn blames it all on Karofsky; Karofsky doesn't say anything, and locks himself into his thoughts, his pain and his guilt. Quinn honestly doesn't know, and Santana refuses to talk.

The only person she allows to be near her is Quinn.

Quinn is here every day at Santana's house and every night in her bed, accepting her silence and offering a shoulder to cry on when Santana finally breaks.

Quinn is here during Brittany's funeral, when Santana breaks apart in the middle of her speech and her best friend has to take over for her, in the same way Will had taken over for Sue during Jean's funeral.

Quinn is here when Santana wants to quit school, unable to be there without the love of her life, and is the one to convince the teachers to give her all of Santana's courses for her to take back home, forcing the girl to study and pass all of her exams even as she still refuses to talk.

Quinn is also here when Finn shows up at Santana's house a few weeks later, not to apologize but to let her know that he's here if she ever needs him. She's the one restraining Santana when she throws herself at him, screaming and shouting in Spanish, her voice raspy from weeks of silence. Quinn can't believe he even dared.

Quinn stays with Santana during graduation, because none of them can stand being in this happy crowd without the girl they started high school with, and promised they would end it with as well.

She's also here when months later, Santana considers taking her own life, and is the one to stop her at the very last moment from ending her days, telling her that Brittany would be mad at her. She's here when right after that, a confused and lost Santana tries to kiss her, and pushes her away kindly before Santana breaks down in her arms again, apologizing for being so stupid and for being such an awful friend.

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It's more than a year before Santana can smile again, when Lord Tubbington – who is in fact a Lady – gives birth to 6 adorable kittens. Santana holds the smaller one, the only one with bright blues eyes, close to her chest, and smiles for the first time since Brittany closed her eyes in the hallways. Quinn is here this time as well.

It's a shy, small smile, but it's a good start.

**The End.**


End file.
